The TAM Museum (), also known as the Museu Asas de um Sonho (Wings of a Dream Museum), was an aviation museum located from central city

São Carlos São Carlos (Saint Charles, in English, ; named after Charles Borromeo, Saint Charles Borromeo) is a Brazilian city and municipality in the Interior of São Paulo, interior of the state of São Paulo, 254 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. ...

, and from

São Paulo City SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

within the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. The museum was the creation of Rolim Adolfo Amaro, founder and president of TAM Airlines, and his brother João Francisco Amaro. The building is annexed to the TAM Airlines Technology Center at São Carlos Airport, in the district of in São Carlos. From 2025 till 2027, 80 aircraft is to be transferred to a possible Museu Aeroespacial Paulista (MAPA), located in the Parque de Material Aeronáutico (PAMA) area, in Campo de Marte, a joint venture between FAB and MAS at a cost of R$ 350 million.

History

In 1996, after finishing the restoration work on a

Cessna 195 The Cessna 190 and 195 Businessliner are a family of light single radial engine powered, conventional landing gear equipped, general aviation aircraft which were manufactured by Cessna between 1947 and 1954.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ...

, brothers Rolim Adolfo Amaro and João Francisco Amaro decided to buy some classic aircraft, and keep them near São Paulo, in order to make them available for flights on weekends with friends. However, once purchased, it was realised that the small collection could become a museum representative of the memory of aviation and the world. The brothers then decided to create the "Museu Asas de um Sonho" (Wings of a Dream Museum), that was maintained by the Education Service and Culture, a non-profit association founded by TAM on 23 December 1991, to administer the social programs of the company. In 2006, the museum opened with 32 aircraft and was intended to have more than 80 aircraft. The opening was part of the celebrations of 150 years of the city of São Carlos. In July 2008 the museum was closed to visitors in order to allow a complete reorganization of its installations, which included an expansion of the covered space from 9.5 thousand square metres to over 20 thousand square metres. The grand re-opening occurred in June 2010 and among the collection of 90 airplanes, held the sole surviving S.55 seaplane christened "Jahú", a

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contracts ...

, a

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...

, a

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...

, a Brazilian aircraft Neiva Regente. On January 29, 2016, TAM announced that the museum would be ceasing operations due to budget concerns.Museu da TAM encerra as atividades?
Aero Magazine. Retrieved on February 2, 2016. Closure actually happened on February 2, 2016, and on May 18, 2018, it was announced that it would be relocated close to the Brazilian Aerospace Memorial at

São José dos Campos Airport São José dos Campos-Professor Urbano Ernesto Stumpf International Airport , is the airport serving São José dos Campos, Brazil. Since November 9, 2004, it is named after Urbano Ernesto Stumpf (1916–1998), colonel-aviator, Aerospace Engineer ...

, near the

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...

plant, but this never happened. On December 16, 2019, the president of the Brazilian Aviation Institute (IBA), Francisco Lyra, announced to an audience at the opening of the São Paulo Catarina business aviation airport that his next project would be to preserve the "Asas de um Sonho" aviation museum. It was intended by the follower

Latam Airlines Group LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is a Chile, Chilean multinational airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Santiago, Chile. It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Par ...

to postpone the acerve to

Campo de Marte Airport Campo de Marte Airport is the first airport built in São Paulo, Brazil, opened in 1929. It is named after Champ de Mars, in Paris, which in turn got its name from Campus Martius, in Rome. The airport is operated by Pax Aeroportos. History C ...

, which also never happened. In March 2022, it was mistakenly reported that the museum pieces had been acquired by Helisul, an

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

company, and would be displayed at the

Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu (; "Iguazu River mouth"), colloquially referred to as Foz, is the Brazilian city on the border of Iguaçu Falls. Foz in Portuguese language, Portuguese means the mouth or end of a river and Iguaçu in Guarani language, Guarani or Tup ...

Convention Center, however the company denied the purchase, not ruling out the possibility of a future partnership. Finally, in May 2023, the museum was reopened on the original location in São Carlos, but soon reclosed. Unfortunate, Marcos Amaro, owner of Museum, could transfer its pieces to Itú.

Aircraft exhibits

:''Source: Ogden''Ogden (2008) The museum has more than 35 aircraft in a historical building measuring 450 metres long by 130 metres wide and 11 metres high. The exhibits planned to be accessible to visitors in 2010 were as follows: {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:left" , - ! width="200", Designation !! width="50", FAB desig!! width="100", Identity!! width="400", Notes , - , Aeronca C-3, , , , NC14630, , , - , American Flea Ship, , , , PP-TKX, , Universal Aircraft , - ,

Boeing-Stearman Model 75 The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary o ...

, , , , LV-FGD, , , - , Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann, , , , E3B-595, , , - ,

Cessna 140 The Cessna 120, 140, and 140A, are single-engine, two-seat, conventional landing gear (tailwheel), light general aviation aircraft that were first produced in 1946, immediately following the end of World War II. Production ended in 1951, and ...

, , , , PP-DYX, , , - ,

Cessna 180 The Cessna 180 Skywagon is a four- or six-seat, fixed conventional gear general aviation airplane which was produced between 1953 and 1981. Though the design is no longer in production, many of these aircraft are still in use as personal airc ...

, , , , PT-BXZ, , , - ,

Cessna 185 The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a six-seat, single-engined, general aviation light aircraft manufactured by Cessna. It first flew as a prototype in July 1960, with the first production model completed in March 1961. The Cessna 185 is a high-winge ...

, , , , PT-KJM, , , - ,

, , , , PT-LDK, , , - , Cessna L-19 Bird Dog , , , , 54736, , , - , Cessna L-19 Bird Dog , , , , 62612, , , - , Cessna L-19 Bird Dog , , , , 72774, , , - ,

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

, , , , N101KC, , "Rose" , - , EAY Ypiranga Paulistinha, , , , PT-ZGY, , , - , EMB110 Bandeirante TAM, , , , , , - ,

Fairchild 24 The Fairchild Model 24, also called the Fairchild Model 24 Argus and UC-61 Forwarder, is a four-seat, single-engine monoplane light transport aircraft designed by the Fairchild Aviation Corporation in the 1930s. It was adopted by the United Sta ...

, , UC-61A, , 2687, , , - ,

Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF during World War II. Design ...

Cornell, , , , PP-GAY, , , - , Fokker F27 Frienship TAM, , , , , , - ,

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

F.8, , F-8, , 4440, , , - , Lockheed 049 Constellation, , , , PP-PDD, , Bought in Paraguay and painted as

Panair do Brasil Panair do Brasil was an airline of Brazil. it ceased operations in 1965. Between 1945 and 1965, it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America. History NYRBA do Brasil (1929–1930) ''Panair do B ...

, - ,

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

G-2, , , , 12456, , , - ,

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...

, , , , 6247, , , - ,

MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 an ...

, , , , 23, , , - ,

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

, , , , 17, , , - , Miles M.2H Hawk Major, , , , G-ADAS, , , - , Neiva

CAP-4 The CAP-4 Paulistinha was a military and civilian trainer aircraft built in Brazil during the 1930s and 1940s. Design and development The CAP-4 was originally developed by Empresa Aeronáutica Ypiranga as an unlicensed copy of the Taylor Cub p ...

Paulistinha, , , , N-505, , Marinha , - , Nord 1203 Norecrin, , , , PP-EBE, , , - , Republic

P-47D Thunderbolt The P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II fighter aircraft built by Republic Aviation from 1941 to 1945. Early designs XP-47 (AP-10) In response to a USAAC requirement for a new fighter aircraft, Republic Aviation engineer Alexander Kartveli p ...

, , , , 229265, , , - , Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, , , , , , , - , IPE Quero Quero KW.1, , , , PT-PEI, , Sailplane , - , IPE Quero Quero KW.1, , , , PT-PFJ, , Sailplane , - ,

RWD-13 The RWD 13 was a Polish touring plane of 1935 in aviation, 1935, three-seater high-wing monoplane, designed by the RWD (aircraft manufacturer), RWD team. It was the biggest commercial success of the RWD. Development The RWD 13 was a touring plane ...

, , , , PT-LFY, , , - ,

Santos-Dumont 14-bis The ''14-bis'' (; (; , approximating "14A"), also known as ("bird of prey" in French), was a pioneer era, canard-style biplane designed and built by Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. In 1906, near Paris, the ''14-bis'' made a ...

, , , , , , Replica , - ,

Santos-Dumont Demoiselle The Santos-Dumont ''Demoiselle'' is a series of aircraft built in France by the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. They were light-weight monoplanes with a wire-braced wing mounted above an open-framework fuselage built from bamb ...

, , , , , , Replica , - , Savoia-Marchetti S.55 , , , , I-BAUQ, , "Jahú" , - , Schneider Grunau Baby IIb , , , , , , Glider , - ,

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

Mk.IX , , , , EN398, , , - ,

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Vought, Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production con ...

, , , , 17-F-13, ,

Gallery

File:Aeroncac3.JPG, Aeronca C-3 File:Cap4paulistinha.JPG, CAP-4 Paulistinha File:Bf109G2.jpg, Bf 109G-2 File:Americanfleaship.JPG, American Flea Ship File:Constellation L-049.jpg, Lockheed 049 Constellation File:Asasdeumsonho.JPG, Internal

Notes

References

* Ogden, Bob (2008). Aviation Museums and Collections of The Rest of the World. UK: Air-Britain. * Wikipedia Portuguese article

External links